Nos vies heureuses (1999) - film review

Soon after leaving hospital following a suicide attempt, Julie falls in love with a young Moroccan, Ali, who came to France to study but who works in a restaurant. Ali’s boss is Lucas, a young man who is having problems of his own.  When he breaks up with his wife, Lucas soon realises that he is gay and begins looking for meaning in his life.  A Catholic militant, Jean-Paul, is attracted to Emilie, who is unable to detach herself from her former boyfriend, whilst love-scarred Cécile distracts herself by taking photographs.  Which of them, if any, will find happiness in their lives?

Having distinguished himself with a series of highly regarded short films, director Jacques Maillot went on to make this, his first full-length film, which was intended as a portrait of a generation (each of the characters being aged around 30).  The problem with the film is apparent just by reading a résumé of its plot: there are just too many characters, too many subplots for the film to function.  It is not surprising that Maillot has such difficulty holding the whole thing together and maintaining focus - he is really trying to do the impossible.

This is a great shame because the acting is almost faultless (special praise going to Marie Payen, Sami Bouajila and Jalil Lespert), and the some parts of the film are exceptionally well made (the Ali-Julie plot is particularly well-handled).  There is probably enough material in this film for three, possibly more, very good films.  As it is, most of what we see is under-developed, unconvincing and consequently fails to engage the audience (the Lucas subplot being a case in point – some nice ideas but ruined by lack of time to develop the character properly).   At two and half hours in length, the film, with its incoherent mix of loosely connected storylines, will be a challenge for even the most committed of French film enthusiasts.

© James Travers 2003

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